NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE MATCH-PLAY FOURSOMES DRAWS

MURCAR LINKS GC
THURSDAY TEE TIMES

SCRATCH FOURSOMES
09.40
J Duff and D Leslie v J Emslie and K Watson.
09.50
J Hopwood and B Harper v J Nicolson and J Hamilton.
10.00
J Duncan and D Nelson v K Beveridge and H Roulston.
10.10 
G Paterson and C Cassie v A Dunton and C C Carnegie.

HANDICAP FOURSOMES
Threequarters difference between handicap totals

 09.00
S Thomson and A Graham v T Collie and P Cheyne (2 shots).

09.10
L Roger and D Fleming v A Petrie and M Duncan
(1 shot)

09.20
N Chisholm and D Mackay v B Lumsden and P Cornfield (7 shots)

09.30
H McNaughton and A Gall v M Winton and W Shaw (2 shots)

+Winners play in afternoon; Finals on Friday morning.   

SCOTS v IRISH BOYS' GOLF TITLE DECIDER IN SOUTH WALES

Scotland will meet Ireland tomorrow in the title decider at the Under-16 boys' quadrangular golf international at Southerndown Golf Club, South Wales.The Scots followed up their 7-5 first-day win over the Netherlands by beating Wales 8-4 today.The Irish will be a tough nut to crack after big wins over Wales (9 1/2-2 1/2) and the Netherlands (10 1/2-1 1/2).Four Scots won their foursomes and singles ties against Wales - Murray Naismith (Marriott Dalmahoy), Ross Robertson (Old Ranfurly), Matthew McCulloch (Portpatrikc) and Lewis Reid (Tantallon). U16 BOYS' QUADRANGULAR INTERNATIONALSoutherndown GC, South WalesDay 2 SCOTLAND 8, WALES 4Foursomes  Niall McMullen (Lundin) and Jack Thomas (Irvine) lost to Ben Chamberlain and Tony Davies 6 and 4, Murray Naismith (Marriott Dalmahoy) and Lewis Reid (Tantallon) bt Hari Jones and Tom Froom 3 and 2, Ross Robertson (Old Ranfurly) and Matthew McCulloch (Portpatrick) bt Dan Pickering and Jamie Pickering 3 and 1, Cameron Black (Cardross) and Chris Curran (Harubrn) bt Jordan Golley and Joe Phillips 2 holes (3-1).Singles  Naismith bt Davies 3 and 2, Thomas lost to Chamberlain 5 and 4, McMullen bt Jones 4 and 3, Curran lost to D Pickering 4 and 2, Black lost to J Pickering 3 and 2, Robertson bt Froom 1 hole, McCulloch bt Phillips 2 and 1, Reid bt Golley 3 and 2 (5-3). OTHER RESULTIreland 10 1/2, Netherlands 1 1/2Foursomes: 3 1/2-01/2. Singles: 7-1 HOW THEY STANDScotland 2 wins, Ireland 2 wins, Wales 2 defeats, Netherlands 2 defeats. ends

JOHN DUFF IS ALLIANCE CHAMPION ON A TIE BREAK

By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com Three putts at the 17th cost Tartan Tour No 1 Greig Hutcheon the North-east Golfers' Alliance championship at a sunny, snow-free Duff House Royal course, in tip-top condition, at Banff today. Hutcheon's bogey at the penultimate hole led to a two-over-par round of 70 after a leading 64 at Montrose last week. That dropped the Banchory tour pro to a final total of four-under-par 134, which was matched by Newmachar amateur John Duff (pictured) with a pair of 67s. Under the rules of the championship, the Uniroyal Quaich, first contested in 1935, went to Duff with his better second round the tie-breaker. Duff, after birdieng the second and the sixth, as well as a bogey at the fifth, parred his last 12 holes in halves of 33-34. Hutcheon never reproduced his sparkle from the previous week and his only birdie came at the short 11th. He bogeyed the fifth, the eighth (three putts) and the 17th in halves of 36-34. Craig Lawrie, Paul's older son, was leading the field after reaching the turn in two-under 32 with birdies at the first and third, but bogeys for the Deeside player at the 10th, 15th and 18th dropped him down to a 69 and a share of third place on 137 with Scotland amateur international Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon) whose 66 was the best score of the day in the championship. TROPHY WINNERS Uniroyal Quaich (scratch aggregate) - John Duff (Newmachar) Best Amateur Trophy - Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon). Chapper's Pot (Class 1 net aggregate) - Kamran Zeynalov (Portlethen) (4) 132. Major's Pot (Class 2 net aggregate) - Stuart Thomson (Caledonian) (11) 139.   NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP Round 1 - Montrose. Round 2 - Duff House Royal FINAL TOTALS Par 138 (70, 68) 134 J Duff (Newmachar) 67 67, G Hutcheon (Banchory) 64 70. 137 A Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 71 66, C Lawrie (Deeside) 68 69. 140 K Zeynalov (Portlethen) 70 70. 145 C Nelson (Mackenzie Shop) 72 73, J Hopwood (Royal Aberdeen) 75 70. 149 G Paterson (Northern) 74 75, J Emslie (Royal Aberdeen) 76 73. 150 S Mackie (Auchmill) 76 74. 151 J Nicolson (Auchmill) 74 77. 152 C Carnegie (Kemnay) 74 78, D Leslie (Northern) 76 76, S Finnie (Caledonian) 70 82, J Duncan (Newburgh) 78 74. 153 K Watson (Deeside) 78 75. 155 C Cassie (Nigg Bay) 79 76 156 K Beveridge (unatt) 80 76 159 H Roulston (Stonehaven) 75 84, B Harper (Newburgh) 81 78. 160 J Hamilton (Murcar Links) 78 82, F Bisset (Banchory) 79 81, 161 M Winton (Caledonian) 79 82, M Forster (Cruden Bay) 79 82, S Thomson (Caledonian) 83 78. 162 J Borthwick (Caledonian) 85 77, L Prouse (Hazlehead) 85 77. 163 P Adams (Ballater) 82 81, A Petrie (Oldmeldrum) 84 79. 164 S Kiloh (Portlethen) 87 77 165 D Nelson (Aboyne) 87 78 166 M Duncan (Murcar Links) 82 84, E Allan (Newmachar) 87 79. 167 D Mackay (Newmachar) 82 85, A Graham (Aboyne) 80 87. 168 G Milne (Newburgh) 81 87. 171 N Chisholm (Kemnay) 85 86. 172 W Shaw (Banchory) 86 86, L Roger (Royal Aberdeen) 83 89, T Collie (Kemnay) 84 88, H McNaughton (Cruden Bay) 84 88, D Bisset (Banchory) 84 88, R Brown (Newburgh) 89 83. 173 D Fleming (Portlethen) 84 89   174 B Lumsden (Northern) 88 86, P Cheyne (Northern) 89 85, A Gall (Deeside) 85 89. 177 J Forrest (Northern) 89 88. 179 G Dillon (Kemnay) 89 90. 182 P Cornfield (Auchmill) 92 90. 184 C Brindley (Banchory) 87 97, D Wright (Northern) 91 93. 185 M Brown (Newburgh) 92 93. 191 S Dillon (Kemnay) 97 84. PRIZEWINNERS ON DUFF HOUSE ROYAL ROUND ALONE SCRATCH 66 *K Nicol (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre), A Dunton (McDonald Ellon). 67 J Duff (Newmachar). 69 C Lawrie (Deeside). 70 G Hutcheon (Banchory). *K Nicol did not play in first round of championship.    HANDICAP  Class 1  66 K Zeynalov (Portlethen) (4). 69 S Mackie (Auchmill) (5). 70 J Duncan (Newburgh) (4), J Borthwick (Craibstone) (7), Duncan Clark (Duff House Royal) (2). Class 2  67 S Thomson (Caledonian) (11).  69 A Petrie (Oldmeldrum) (10). 70 R Duncan (Royal Aberdeen) (12). 71 M Winton (Caledonian) (11), R Brown (Newburgh) (12).

DAVID LAW ONLY SCOT TO BEAT EGYPT CUT

David Law, improving from joint 49th to a share of 18th place with a three-under-par second round of 69, was the only Scot to survive the 36-hole cut in the German PGA Developmental Tour's Red Sea Sokhna Open at Sokhna Golf Club, Egypt today (Wed) The Aberdonian's tally of level par 144 sees him start the final round 12 shots behind leader Antoine Schwartz (France) who has had a pair of 66s for 12-under 132 and a seven-shot lead over his nearest rivals. Peterhead's Philip McLean, a Paul Lawrie Golf Centre stablemate of Law's, missed the cut by five shots with a 78 for 153. A third PLGC player, Jordan Findlay from Fraserburgh, and David James from Dumfries missed out on the 155 mark. Findlay had a second-round 76 and James a 75. RED SEA SOKHNA OPEN Sokhna GC, Egypt. LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS Par 144 (2x72) 132 A Schwartz (Fra) 66 66 139 J Andrea Noder (Swi) 68 71, A Kirstein (Ger) 73 66, M Bey (Fra) 67 72, Christopher Nivis (Bel) 71 68. SELECTED SCORE 144 D Law (Sco) 75 69 (T18) MISSED THE CUT (148 and better qualified) 153 P McLean (Sco) 75 78 155 J Findlay (Sco) 79 76, D James (Sco) 80 75. ends

TIGER TELLS RORY TO GO AND WIN THIS WEEK'S HOUSTON OPEN

FROM THE BBC SPORT.COM WEBSITE 

Tiger Woods has urged Rory McIlroy to claim his first win of the year, even though it would mean losing his number one ranking to the Northern Irishman.

Woods returned to the top spot for the first time since October 2010 after winning at Bay Hill on Monday.
It ended McIlroy's 32-week reign as number one and the 23-year-old sent Woods a congratulatory text message.
McIlroy, who plays in the Houston Open on Thursday, said Woods replied: "Get your finger out and win this week."
McIlroy first reached number one in March last year and won five events in 2012 - including his second major, the US PGA title - plus the money lists in both Europe and the United States.
He endured a difficult start to this year, however, after changing his club and ball manufacturers, missing the cut in his first event in Abu Dhabi and losing to Shane Lowry in the first round of the World Match Play in Arizona.

On 1 March, his defence of the Honda Open came to a controversial end when he walked off the course after eight holes of his second round, with a sore wisdom tooth cited as his reason for doing so, something for which he later apologised.

But he returned to form with a 65 in his most recent competitive round at the World Golf Championship event at Doral on 10 March and said: "I felt like I saw a lot of good things there."
Asked about his Nike stablemate Woods, who won that event and has three titles to his name in 2013, McIlroy said: "He looks like he's playing really well and putting really, really well. He's back to the top of the world rankings and he seems like he's in a really good place on and off the course, so it's good to see.
"I really enjoy his company. He gives me a lot of grief and I try to give him some back but it's good. He's fun to be around.
"He's been the man in the golf world for the last 15 years. It's great for golf to have him playing well and hopefully I can just try to keep up with him."
McIlroy, who plans to visit a Unicef  project in Haiti in the week before the season's first major at Augusta, said the focus on Woods might improve his chances of winning the Masters green jacket for the first time, having squandered a four-shot lead in 2011 and tied for 40th last year.
He said: "I didn't think I could go into the Masters under the radar but I can go in a little bit underneath him so in a way it's not a bad thing.
"The things I'm trying to work on are becoming a lot more comfortable, the way I've been hitting the ball recently I definitely feel like it's going in the right direction."

MURCAR LINKS CLOSED AFTER OVERNIGHT SNOW

There has been overnight snow in the Bieldside area to the west of Aberdeen.

No weather report from Banff yet with regard to today's final round of the North-east Alliance championship at Duff House Royal GC.

Will let you know as soon as we hear.

Not looking too good, either, for the NE Alliance pro-am and am-am conclusion to the season at Murcar Links tomorrow and Friday.

Club secretary Carol O'Neil reports:  

"About 1/2" snow at Newmachar when I left home.  Murcar Links course closed at the present time but Bob (head greenkeeper) hopeful of it clearing in an hour.  Not too sure of weather forecast for next couple of days."
How bad is this weather we're getting?
I've been reporting on the North-east Alliance since Adam was a boy and I cannot remember the end-of-season foursomes competitions ever
being hit by SNOW! 

YOU WILL HEAR ABOUT IT FIRST ON THIS WEBSITE